The Department of History of Art & Architecture invites you to the 2025-2026 HAA Guest Lecture Series

Sponsored by the Boston University Center for the Humanities, the HAA Guest Lecture Series brings together historians of art and architecture specializing in diverse fields and genres. Prominent scholars and museum professionals are invited to share their latest work with the BU community in a lecture followed by a Q&A.

The 2025/2026 HAA Guest Lecture Series is organized by graduate students: Rachel Kline & Isaline Lefrançois

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Upcoming Lecture

Tuesday, April 7th at 6 PM in CAS 132
Stephanie C. Leone, Professor of Art History, Boston College
Title:“Restoring Rome for the Jubilee: Pope Innocent X’s Motives, Methods, and Meaning in 1650.”

Abstract: When Innocent X Pamphilj was elected pope in 1644, he quickly commissioned monumental works of architecture and sculpture at St. Peter’s, St. John the Lateran, the Piazza Navona, and the Capitoline Hill. According to G.S. Ruggieri’s Diario dell’anno del SS.mo Giubileo 1650, these projects aimed “to excite greater devotion in pilgrims and foreigners…[and] reflect the piety, religion, and paternal affection of the Pope toward this Holy City, his homeland.” Ruggieri’s contemporary voice serves as a starting point to investigate Innocent X’s motivations for renovating Rome for the Holy Year. Through select examples, this paper explores why Innocent X—head of the Roman Catholic Church, protector of the Pamphilj family, and Roman citizen—chose these locations and what, specifically, he aimed to communicate to pilgrims and Romans alike. Furthermore, it argues that he accomplished so much artistic production in such little time—only five years—by harnessing the robust building and sculptural industries of Rome and employing proven and new operational strategies. 

Archive of Past Lectures